What is the purpose of Lubrication?
To “lubricate” means to reduce the frictions of contacting surfaces in machinery components. The purpose of Lubrication in ball screw applications is to reduce friction and wear, provide anti-corrosion, cooling, and foreign substance displacement measures. All these measures are to maintain ball screw’s excellent characteristics and performances. Lubricants are divided in two major categories, Greases and Oils, and must be selected based on application specific requirements. Grease is often the general preference as the lubricating medium for ball screws due to lower cost and ease of application. The oil lubrication requires frequent application with centralized lubrication systems, and is rarely used other than in machine tool and other special applications where constant removal of foreign matter and heat are required.
